Evil Pet Shop Much?
by ian.cotterill.56
Summary: When a number of important scientists are inextricably transformed into talking animals, WOOHP sends Sam, Alex and Clover in to investigate. During the course of the mission, they themselves fall foul of the schemes of a crazed Pet Shop owner, intent on turning the entire world into his own animal kingdom...
1. Prologue

**The author of this story would like to thank fellow 'Totally Spies'** **writer jettmanas, who was kind enough to create some new cover-art for this adventure.**

* * *

It was a cold, foreboding night at the London Institute for Advanced Scientific Research. Inside the building, Professor Mark Parsons, one of the leading authorities on dark matter, was in his office, finishing typing up some notes on his laptop. He paid little attention to the howling wind that relentlessly battered against his window like a swarm of angry ghosts that were trying to get in and seize his soul.

Parsons leaned back in his comfy suede chair, feeling quite pleased with himself. He had just completed the last notes he needed for his upcoming lecture on the fabric of the universe, which he knew full well would utterly baffle and bewilder his students. He did so enjoy showing just how smarter he was compared to the majority of the world and he also felt that this kind of speech would encourage those attending his lectures to study a bit harder, just to get some indication as to the nature of the weird science he had spent three hours babbling to them about!

His musings were abruptly interrupted by a loud knock on the office door. Annoyed by the interruption, he irately got to his feet, walked across the room and opened the door. He found himself facing a short man in a big dark trench coat with a wide-rimmed hat on his head, the shadows of which hid the top part of his face, while a cold, cunning smile could be seen underneath.

Parsons made a really big mistake at this point. If he had watched more movies in his spare time, he would know that mysterious men who obscured their faces, like the one currently before him, have a tendency to be quite villainous and that the wisest course of action would be to perhaps slam the door shut, lock it and call for security. Instead, he decided to directly challenge the stranger. On reflection, this was an unwise move to make.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked rather tetchily.

"Indeed you can, Professor," chuckled the man maliciously. "Indeed you can."

Before Parsons could react, the man suddenly pulled what looked like some kind of ray gun from his large coat pocket and fired a beam of bright green energy, which completely enveloped the unfortunate professor. Seconds later, the beam dissipated and the professor had completely vanished, leaving only his clothes, which lay crumpled on the ground. As he put the gun back into his coat pocket, the man smirked to himself and pulled a crumpled list out of his other pocket.

"Five down, four to go," he chortled to himself as he took a pencil and crossed off a name on the list. Suddenly, at that moment, a security guard came round the corner and spotted what was happening.

"Hey, what's going on down there?" he yelled. The man in the coat did not bother to respond. Instead, he spun on his feet and dashed frantically for the exit, not realising until too late that in the confusion he had dropped his list. Grumbling heatedly to himself, the man charged through the door and out into the busy streets, where he soon lost himself into the crowd.

The guard was just starting to take pursuit, when he was distracted by a small voice called out "Help! Get me out of here!" The guard looked around for a second, before realising that the voice had come from the pile of clothes lying in the office doorway. To his total astonishment, a small furry mole poked his head out from under the professor's shirt and looked directly at the guard.

"Don't just stand there, man!" snapped the mole. "Do something!"

The shocked guard did indeed do something. He rolled his eyes and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.


	2. Spy Movie Night

"Oh, how about Brock Williams' new blockbuster 'Space Invaders From Venus'?" suggested Alex, as she held the Blu-Ray box up for everyone to see.

"After that last mission we went through, fighting off the invasion of the evil pepper pots from Planet Skaro? No thanks!" replied Sam shrilly.

It was a quiet evening in Malibu and with no other plans in mind, the girls from WOOHP had decided just to get themselves some popcorn, crash on the couch in their penthouse and watch a movie. The problem was that they could not decide which film they were in the mood to watch and as such, they had spent the last half-hour looking through the wide assortment of DVDs and Blu-Rays that they owned, trying to choose something that all three of them were keen to watch.

"Why don't we try to narrow down our options a bit," Sam continued. "Maybe what we need is a film that's light-hearted, funny and really romantic."

"Then I have just the thing!" said Clover as she pulled a DVD off the shelf and presented it to the others.

"'The Princess and the Frog'? Nice pick, Clover!" smiled Alex.

Sam raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't know you were into Disney cartoons, Clover. I'd have thought that was more Alex's thing!"

"Hey, I'll have you know this counts as vigorous research!" replied Clover defensively. "I'm hoping to pick up a few tips on how to get a handsome Prince to take an interest in me. If I ever meet one that is."

"Just so long as you don't get yourself turned into a frog!" laughed Alex.

Sam shrugged. "Aw, what the heck. I could do with something fairly mindless to watch this evening."

With the film finally decided, Clover inserted the DVD into the machine and the three of them sat down in front of the telly with some popcorn and cans of Pepsi. To their surprise, instead of showing the start of the film, the TV displayed a view of Jerry's face on the large screen!

"Evening ladies," he said cheerily.

"Jerry! What's the big idea interrupting our movie night?" snapped Clover in annoyance.

"TV watching will have to wait, spies," replied their boss in a solemn tone of voice. "Right now I have an important assignment for you!"

And with that, the TV screen slid open to reveal a long tunnel, which the girls were abruptly sucked into!

"Ah well, I guess we'll have to watch the movie later, girls," cried Sam as they slid down the twisting chute that eventually deposited them onto the sofa in Jerry's office.

"So what's with the big rush, Jerry?" asked Alex as the girls brushed themselves off.

"A somewhat peculiar and alarming mystery, Alex. There has been a rather inexplicable series of attacks committed in the scientific community as of late," answered Jerry. "Over the past couple of weeks, a number of well-respected scientists and theoretical physicists seem to have been targeted by an unknown assailant who has somehow managed to transform them into animals!"

"No way!" exclaimed Clover.

"Indeed way," Jerry continued. "One notable professor of chemistry, for example, got turned into a tall giraffe and has got her head stuck through the skylight of her laboratory. The authorities are still trying to work out how to get her out!"

"Is there any connection between the various victims?" asked Sam as she tried to make sense of all this.

"Aside from the fact that they're total nerds!" added Clover with a chuckle.

"We're not quite sure as yet," replied Jerry, "which is why I'd like you girls to investigate the scene of the latest attack at the Advanced Scientific Research Institute in London. Now for this mission, you'll be supplied with the Scanner Watch to help with searching for clues; the Laser Lipstick and the Hairpick Lockpick to gain entry to any barred or locked rooms; and the Trampoline Heels for aid in pursuing any villains you'll come across."

"Awesome! This lot should help us wrap this case up in no time," said Alex as she and the others quickly picked up their gadgets from Jerry's desk.

"Okay girls, let's get this show on the road!" said Sam as the girls pressed the instant spy outfit buttons on their compowders, which instantaneously transformed their regular clothes into their spy uniforms.

"Yeah, the sooner we finish this mission, the sooner we can get back to our film," added Clover.

"Then by all means, away you go!" said Jerry as he pressed a switch on his desk. Seconds later, a hatch opened in the ceiling and produced a powerful vacuum which pulled in the girls and sent them flying up the WOOHP tunnel that led to the jet ready to take them to London.

* * *

"I tell you, I have never endured such indignity in my entire life!" snorted Professor Parsons, who was currently perched on his desk and flapping his two front paws about in exasperation. "After that blaggard zapped me last night, I tried to give my planned lecture to the students, but instead of listening to my teachings, half of them burst out laughing while the other half commented on how adorable I looked. It is absolutely intolerable!"

Clover and Alex exchanged weary looks as they listened to the Professor's furious account of what had happened to him. They had arrived at the institute just half an hour ago and were trying to get some sense out of the Professor's livid rants, while Sam scoured the room and corridors for any clues that could tell them precisely who or what they were dealing with.

"And you've no idea who the mystery guy in the trench coat could be?" Alex asked the mole.

"No, he had his hat on in such a way that I could not see his face," muttered Parsons. "His voice did seem vaguely familiar, but I just can't place it."

"Oh man, this is getting us nowhere!" grumbled Clover.

"Hang on girls, I think I've found something," Sam's voice called out from the corridor. Alex and Clover dashed over to find Sam holding a sheet of paper with a list of names on it.

"I found this lodged in the doorway," continued Sam. "It looks like some kind of hit list."

"Yeah and all those crossed off names are the people that have been turned into animals so far," added Alex as she leaned in a bit to get a closer look at the list.

"Hey, if this does belong to the attacker, it may have some fingerprints on it!" realised Clover. She held out the scanner watch, which emitted an iridescent beam of light over the paper. Within seconds, there was a positive bleep from the scanner as it found what it was searching for.

"Well, what do you know? We've scored one major thumbprint here!" said Clover elatedly.

"Great! Let's send the list and the thumbprint over to Jerry. Maybe he'll be able to identify our villain," said Alex ecstatically.

"In the meantime, we better find the next intended victim before it's too late," said Sam. "According to this list, the following target is going to be one Doctor Liz Tracy."

"Hey, my parents mentioned her once," Alex suddenly remembered. "She's a major computer whizz who helped sort some IT problems for some of Dad's inventions."

"In that case, maybe Carmen can tell us where she is at the moment," realised Sam. "Then with a bit of luck, we'll be in time to save Doctor Tracy and nab our mystery felon in the process."


	3. Peril In Paris

And so after a quick call to Alex's mum, the girls were back in the jet and found themselves on their way to Doctor Tracy's lab in Paris. Within a couple of hours, they had arrived and after engaging the plane's autopilot, they leapt out through the hatch of the still-flying jet and parachuted down to the city streets on the ground below.

"Hey, if we can get this sorted out real quick, maybe we'll have some time to shop till we drop," suggested Clover, ecstatic at being back in one of the girls' all-time favourite cities.

"Uh, let's stay focused on catching the bad guy first, then we'll have time to look around," suggested Sam resolutely as they landed on the pavement, bundled up the parachutes and reactivated the instant outfit function on their compowders. Now back in their everyday clothes, they briskly made their way over to Liz Tracy's flat just along the street. They had only been walking for a couple of minutes when they had arrived at the front door, whereupon Sam pressed the doorbell, which gave a somewhat cheerful ring. After a few seconds, the door opened and the girls found themselves facing an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, outfitted in a blue dress and a white lab coat.

"Oh hello. Can I help you?" she asked with a cheery smile.

"Hi there, Doc Tracy, I'm Alex," replied Alex with a wave of her hand. "You may remember my parents from…"

"Oh yes, I recognise you from your parent's family photos," cut across Liz. "Your mother did ring me an hour ago, said that there was something quite urgent that you and your friends needed to see me about."

"Urgent is an understatement," said Sam, holding out a photocopy of the list that they had found. "We've, err, heard from the authorities that someone is targeting major scientists and it looks like you're next on their attack list!"

Liz looked at the half-crossed out list in shock. "Oh goodness, that doesn't sound nice! I recognise some of these names. We all used to be on the same board of governors for the molecular biology division of the International Council For Science."

"Do you have any idea who might be out to get you?" asked Clover.

"I can give you a pretty long list!" answered Liz. "There have been a number of people over the years whom we've had to dismiss from the board on ethical grounds. I guess it's possible that one of them could be out there looking for revenge."

"Always with the revenge," sighed Alex wearily. It was a hardly original motive, as almost every villain the girls had ever encountered over the years was out for some form of revenge on somebody.

"Well, perhaps we best get indoors and discuss this in more detail," suggested Sam seriously. "For all we know, the guy behind all this could be on his way here right now."

No sooner had Sam finished her sentence, than a beam of green light suddenly struck the side of the doorframe, just an inch away from Liz's head!

"Hey, look out!" cried out Clover as she grabbed the started doctor and pulled her into the apartment, away from the line of fire. While Clover got Liz to take cover behind the nearest table inside, Sam and Alex were already dashing onto the street, searching for their mystery assailant.

"There he is!" shouted Sam, pointing to the rooftops. Sure enough, they could see the same man in a hat and coat that Parsons had described, running across the tops of the street buildings.

"Well what are we waiting for?" said Alex. "Let's go and get him!"

Activating the powerful springs in their Trampoline Heels, the girls bounced straight up from the streets and onto the high rooftops, landing right in front of the fleeing baddie.

"Hold it right there, mister!" shouted Sam. "You've got some 'splaining to do!"

Incensed, the man quickly turned back on his heels and ran in the other direction, towards a nearby fire escape. Alex immediately activated her Trampoline Heels again and leapt straight after the man. Just as it looked like she was about to land and grab him, the man suddenly pulled off his coat and threw it right at Alex's face.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" yelled Alex as the coat clouded her vision. Losing her balance, she crashed straight into some washing lines and got tangled up in a variety of clothes and large bed sheets.

Realising that it was all up to her, Sam gave chase and soon caught up with the panting villain, who was considerably slower than she was, just as he was about to reach the fire escape.

"You don't get away from us that easily, pal!" smirked Sam, reaching out to grab the man by the arm.

Suddenly the man whirled again and Sam realised with horror that he was still holding his weird ray gun, which he was now aiming directly at her! Before Sam even had a chance to leap clear, the man pulled the trigger and the energy beam fired out and engulfed her. A disorienting wave of dizziness engulfed Sam's senses and she was dimly aware that she seemed to be getting smaller. Then everything went dark.

As Alex finally managed to untangle herself from the damp washing that had broken her fall, she saw two things that made her eyes widen in shock. Firstly, the bad guy had gone, having apparently managed to reach the fire escape and dash down to freedom. Secondly, Sam's clothes were lying lifeless in an untidy pile on the roof, with the redheaded girl herself nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no, Sam!" Alex immediately rushed over to where her friend had been just seconds ago. To her amazement, she could see a small shape moving about beneath Sam's shirt.

"Alex, is that you? I'm kinda stuck in here," came a muffled, but familiar voice from the strange shape that was moving beneath the mass of clothes.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as she recognised Sam's voice. "Yeah, Sammy, it's me. Hang on, let me get you out of there." She began to sort through the clothes in order to try and fish her friend out.

"That creep fired his ray-thing at me," explained Sam, still feeling somewhat disoriented from the experience. "It must have caused me to shrink down in size."

"Err, I think it did way worse than that, Sam," gulped Alex as she lifted the shirt clear off the moving shape beneath, her eyes widening once again in astonishment as she saw what precisely that laser beam had done to her friend.

"Why? What's happened?" asked Sam nervously, apprehensive of what Alex was about to say.

"You remember that film we were about to watch?" said Alex slowly, trying to break the news as gently as she could. "Well, I'm afraid you're living it."

Alex held out the mirror in her compowder and Sam's jaw dropped at the sight of her own reflection staring back at her in disbelief.

"What! I'm a frog!" she exclaimed, looking down at her now green-skinned and mucus-covered body. "Oh no, this cannot be happening!"


	4. The Frog Spy

"Oh dear, what a thing to have happened," said Jerry sympathetically, as the girls finished briefing him on what had transpired in Paris.

"Tell me about it. Ribbit!" groused Sam miserably as she held her broad head in her webbed hands.

After the confrontation on the roof, the girls decided that the best course of action would be to discreetly arrange for Liz and the other remaining scientists on the list to be transferred straight to WOOHP headquarters, where they could all be better protected by security there. A number of the boffins were highly sceptical of these so-called attacks, but Liz promised to help make sure they would remain in the building until the danger was over. She knew full well how serious the situation was, having almost been turned into an animal herself.

As soon as all the intended targets were in protective custody, the girls met up with Jerry in the gadget lab, where various WOOHP scientists were attempting to work out a cure for the strange transformations that Sam and the previous scientists had unwillingly undergone. Alex and Clover were sitting on some rather comfortable lab stools, while an understandably cross Sam was perched on a cork bung on the lab table as they finished recounting the events of the mission so far.

"Jerry, please tell us you can get Sam back to normal," Alex said imploringly.

"Rest assured Alex, we're doing everything possible," said Jerry supportively. "The good news is that based on experience with previous missions like this, like the 'Carnival Diablo' incident, we're fairly confident we'll be able to reverse Sam's mutation. But I'm afraid that without knowing anything about the device used, it'll be at least a month before we're certain that the antidote can be used safely and efficiently."

"You mean I'm going to have to be stuck like this for a whole month? Oh, terrific!" moaned Sam.

"Don't you have any leads for us that could help, Jerr?" asked Clover almost demandingly.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Jerry. "We've cross-referenced that thumbprint you girls found and have found it belongs to a certain Professor Jack Terrier. He used to work at ICSU, but was dismissed a few years ago after he was found conducting unscrupulous experiments merging human and animal DNA. Since then, he set up a small pet shop in Beverly Hills and has apparently given up his scientific pursuits in favour of a more quiet life."

"Well it looks to me like he's got bored with pet grooming and decided to make a big comeback," remarked Alex.

"Then let's go and have a few words with him. Ribbit! I've got a major bone to pick with him!" said Sam. At that point, a fly buzzed near Sam and before she knew what was happening, her tongue instinctively shot out and snagged the unfortunate insect, pulling it into her mouth.

"Ew, gross!" blanched Clover as Sam blushed in embarrassment at what she had just done.

"Yeah, that is like so freaky, Sam! The sooner we get you back to normal the better!" added Alex as she picked up Sam and perched her on her shoulder.

"Indeed," agreed Jerry. "You better take the voice-controlled WOOHP cycles, they'll get you to your destination in no time."

* * *

"Man, what a dump!" observed Clover, as she and Alex parked their respective motorcycles and surveyed the derelict pet shop on the other side of the road. The whole wretched building looked terribly rundown with crumbling brickwork and broken signboards hanging fairly loosely over the cracked shop windows.

"You can say that again. This place gives pet shops a really bad name," agreed Alex as she opened a compartment on her bike. From it, Sam bounced out and landed on Alex's outstretched hand.

"Okay, we better scope the place out, ladies," Sam said. "It shouldn't be too hard to find a way in."

Suddenly, an annoying and all-too familiar voice cut across their train of thought. "Well, well, if it isn't two of the three loser-teers!"

The girls turned their heads in annoyance to see Mandy strolling along the street towards them, with Trent following closely behind, trying to keep his balance as he carried a huge amount of shopping in his arms.

"Where's the braniac then?" sneered Mandy with a sly smile on her face. "Decided she had better things to do than hang around with you dorks?"

"Oh lay off will you, Mandy," retorted Clover, gritting her teeth. "Sam's just, err… caught a cold! She's back at the penthouse, trying to get over it."

"Oh, and she has to play the drama queen because of a few sniffles, does she? What a wimp!" Mandy replied mockingly before noticing the frog in Alex's hands.

"Ah, getting a new pet are we? Definite improvement from that revolting pig of yours! Though it's probably way smaller in the brain department! Not to mention the fact that it's way ugly! Rather like Sammy, now you think about it."

For Sam, that was the last straw. Seething with anger, she furiously leapt from Alex's hand and with one bound she landed gracefully right on top of Mandy's head!

"Argh, get this revolting pest off me!" yelled Mandy as she waved her hands to swat the frog away. But Sam kept leaping up and down, easily avoiding Mandy's flaying arms, much to Alex and Clover's amusement.

"Don't just stand there, Trent! Do something!" screamed Mandy.

"Whatever you say, Mandy!" said Trent as he dropped the shopping and dashed over to aid his employer. Seeing Trent aiming to grab her, Sam lost her footing and before she knew what was happening, she had slid right down into the back of Mandy's dress!

"Eek! Get it out, you idiot!" Mandy continued to shriek as she clawed at her back, trying to get the intruder out.

Grabbing a convenient electric flyswatter from the shopping bags, Trent took careful aim at the shape of the frog that was showing beneath the dress. He swung his arm with all his might, but at that precise moment, the frog moved and the swatter impacted with Mandy's back instead, sending sparks of electricity dancing about her person.

"Yeow! You were supposed to hit the frog, not me!" snapped Mandy as her hair began to turn all frizzled and slightly burnt.

As Alex and Clover watched with a mixture of concern and glee, Sam managed to drop through a break in the dress and land onto the ground, before hopping back over to her friends. Mandy, meanwhile, had completely forgotten about the pesky amphibian, as she was too busy yelling at the unfortunate Trent.

"Gah, my hair's a mess and my back's going to be stinging for weeks! Why can't you aim properly, you loser! And look at all my shopping! You've dropped all my new outfits all over this dirty pavement! Get them to the cleaners at once!" she bellowed before storming off down the street.

"Yes, Mandy," sighed Trent dejectedly as he picked up the bundle of ruined clothes and made his way to the dry cleaners.

"Nice one, Sammy," laughed Alex, picking up her amphibious friend as she and Clover tried (and failed) to control their fit of giggles over the whole thing.

"Guess I got a bit carried away there," said Sam sheepishly. "I certainly wouldn't like to do that again!"

"Never mind," chuckled Clover. "It serves Mandy right for being so mean all the time! Now, what you say we get back to the mission and work out how to get you back to normal?"


	5. Caught In The Act!

As the girls finished laughing, they made their way over to the narrow alleyway next to the pet shop, where they found the back door to the store, which was of course locked.

"All right, decision time," said Alex, weighing in their options. "Do we sneak in the back way or do we put on disguises, walk in through the front door and check out the main store first?"

"Well, we could try splitting up in order to do both routes," replied Clover. "A two-pronged approach would make it easier for us to get the drop on our suspect."

"Maybe there's a third way in," said Sam thoughtfully, pointing up to a small air vent next to the door. "At my current size, I might be able to slip in more easily and make my way down the ventilation shaft without being detected."

"Oh come on, ventilation shafts are so cliché!" said Clover. "There's no way a baddie would allow for that old trick."

"Maybe that's why they made this shaft so small," pointed out Alex. "You and I are certainly can't squeeze in there, Clover. But Sam's right, she should be able to get along that tunnel with no problem."

"In that case, why don't we try all three approaches," suggested Sam decisively. "I'll go down the shaft, Clover can make her way through the back entrance, and Alex, you can disguise yourself as a customer and make discreet inquiries at the counter. Ribbit!"

Sam clapped a hand over her mouth as she realised that she had given out yet another frog croak. It was becoming really hard trying to keep her annoying new animal instincts in check, such as stopping her tongue from shooting out every time an insect got anywhere near her.

"Sounds good to me," said Alex as she selected an appropriate disguise on her compowder. Seconds later, she was clad in a rather smart maroon-coloured business suit, consisting of a buttoned-up blazer jacket, a knee-length skirt with medium heel shoes to match, a white cotton shirt, and a straight black silk tie. The whole look was completed by a light-brown curly wig, which covered her own much darker hair.

"Nice threads," said Clover approvingly as she got out the laser lipstick and used it to remove the grating that covered the shaft leading into the air duct. The moment the opening was clear, Alex deposited Sam into the shaft and Clover handed the lipstick to the frog spy.

"Okay Sam, see you later," said Clover.

"And take care in there," added Alex.

"Thanks guys. You be careful too," replied Sam, before she started hopping down the shaft into the unknown.

"Right Alex, you better make your way to the store entrance, while I try and get this door open," said Clover as she pulled out the Hairpick Lockpick and started to work on the keyhole.

"Sure thing, Clover. I'll see you soon."

Turning on her heels, Alex made her way out of the alley and back round to the front of the store. Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door, which made the shop bell give out a loud ring, announcing that there were new customers in.

Alex stepped into the shop and looked around. The store was precisely as one would expect from a pet shop, except that there was a noticeable amount of rust and dust on the various animal cages and product shelves. She also could not help but notice that a large number of the animals in the cages did not look at all happy with their surroundings. They did not appear as though they had been hurt or obviously abused by their current owner, but they definitely looked scared, as though they knew there were nefarious things occurring in this shop.

 _"Boy, I could do a way better job looking after all these cute animals,"_ she thought to herself in disgust as she eyed a cute, but undeniably thin bunny rabbit that was busy eating a somewhat mouldy carrot in his cage. Alex felt a bit of anger well up in her at seeing all these adorable creatures being treated so poorly. One of the various reasons she was studying to become a vet in the first place was to help do her bit to stop this kind of abuse from happening and ensure that lovable animals like the ones she was looking at were treated more fairly and kindly.

There was a sudden cough from the counter that made her jump a little. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

Alex turned to face the person addressing her. The smiling man seemed to be in his mid-sixties, with half-rimmed spectacles on his nose and wild white hair that made him look a bit like Albert Einstein. He wore a rather old-fashioned shirt and trousers with braces, with a light-red waistcoat and a bowtie to match. He did not look like the villainous mastermind type, but if there was one thing Alex had learnt over the years that she has been a WOOHP agent, it is that appearances can be really, really, deceptive.

"Oh hi," she said, straightening her suit tie and deepening her voice a little to sound a bit older than she actually was. "I was wondering if you had some stuff I could get for my pet cat. It's her birthday coming up next month and I'd like to get her something really special."

"Well, what did you have in mind?" asked the man with an innocent smile.

"Oh, I don't know. Some catnip, perhaps? Or a new toy mouse, she loves those!"

"Well," said the man sweetly, "I may have something in the back of the store. Would you care to follow me, please?"

He led the way through a door behind the counter, into a small storage area, full of supplies and wooden crates of varying shapes and sizes. Alex eyed up everything in the room, hoping that she might pick up a clue from it all.

"Ah yes, this should be the one you're looking for," he said as he selected a notably large crate and removed the lid. Alex peered in to get a closer look, when suddenly a large Burmese python snake leapt out and wrapped itself tightly around her arms and waist, ensnaring her!

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" she protested furiously. The man simply gave a small laugh and grabbed her wig, yanking it clear off!

"Ha! As if I would be fooled by such a pathetic disguise!" he chuckled wickedly. "I recognised your face from our fight in Paris! That's the problem with humans, always butting into things that are none of their business. Not like the animals. They do exactly as I tell them!"

He gave the snake a friendly pat on the head. "Yes, who's a good snakey-wakey?"

The loyal python hissed contently, pleased to have been of service to its master.

The man's attention was suddenly diverted by a blinking red light on a nearby desk. A cruel smile crept across his wrinkly face and a scheming gleam appeared in his eyes.

"Ah, the silent alarm system for the back door. It seems we have more company!"

* * *

"At last," muttered Clover as she finally managed to get the Lockpick to work and the back door began to swing open. Cautiously she made her way inside, scanning the passageway for anything remotely suspicious. As she proceeded with her vigorous search, she noticed a door further along with a sign on it that read in big red letters 'KEEP OUT'.

 _"Well that's as good a place to search as any,"_ Clover thought to herself.

She carefully pushed the door open and immediately punched the air as she realised that she had hit the jackpot. The room was crammed with computer banks and various tables with an assortment of electronic equipment and chemistry sets set on top, including some beakers filled with bubbling liquids of varying colours. On the far wall, she could see a dartboard with various photos stuck on and full of darts. As she looked closer, Clover realised that the photos were all of the various scientists that were being targeted in the first place.

"Whoa, this guy is bearing one heck of a grudge," she murmured to herself.

As Clover looked around the room a bit further, she gradually became aware of a low hissing noise filling the room. To her distress, she suddenly realised that gas was being pumped into the room through a series of small holes in the ceiling. She coughed and whirled for the door, only to find out it had been quietly shut and locked while her back was turned. As more gas filled the room, Clover felt consciousness quickly slipping away from her and she stumbled and crashed to the floor. Before she blacked out completely, she was dimly aware of a cold laugh faintly coming from the other side of the door.


	6. Totally Barking Mad

Sam was reluctant to admit it, but she was actually beginning to enjoy being a frog as she continued her long trek through the ducting. She obviously could not wait till WOOHP managed to get the antidote to turn her back to her normal human self ready in time, but there was definitely something fun about being able to leap and bounce the way she was doing at the moment. She was so enthralled in her new jumping skills that she forgot to watch where she was going and almost fell straight down the sudden sharp drop in the vents. For a lingering and tense second, she teetered perilously on the edge, before taking a couple of hasty steps back.

Sighing in relief at her near escape, Sam looked closely at the severe drop. It did not seem to be too long a way down, but she could still end up breaking something if she was not careful. She did have the option to go back and see about finding another way in, but that would give too much time for Professor Terrier to commit more nefarious harm.

There was only thing for it. Bracing herself for the plunge, she leapt forward and bounced right off the wall and onto the side of the vent leading downwards. She then proceeded to ricochet off each side of the vent, making a gradual descent to the bottom of the shaft. It was actually quite an exhilarating experience, though it would have been a lot easier if she did not have to hold onto the Laser Lipstick on the way down. She was just reaching the bottom, when she suddenly lost her grip on the heavy gadget and it fell down ahead of her, crashing onto the metal plating with a loud clang.

"Aw great," Sam grumbled as she landed next to the lipstick, reproaching herself for her own carelessness. She quickly checked the gadget over and was relieved to see that the drop had caused no apparent damage. As she picked the device up, she suddenly became aware of muffled noises echoing down the vent. She looked down the shaft and saw a beam of light coming from the other end. Sam at once realised that she had reached the barred opening that led into the next room. Hopping over to the end of the vent, she peered through the bars of the vent covering and was immediately shocked by what she saw.

The room she was looking into seemed to be some kind of laboratory filled with chemistry sets and electronic equipment. A number of the tables had been moved aside to make room for a large wire mesh cage and inside the cage, gagged by thick cloths tied tightly over their mouths and securely bound back-to-back by rope, were Alex and Clover. They were making muffled, frantic protests and were glaring furiously at an old man on the other side of the room. From her position, Sam could see that he was tinkering with the very same ray gun that had blasted her earlier in Paris. Unless she missed her guess, this guy was Terrier.

"Ha! You really thought I would not have prepared for the possibility of someone tracking me down," Terrier sneered at his two restrained prisoners. "You young fools! I am a genius! I prepare for every eventuality!

He paused for a second, an awkward expression crossing his face as he suddenly recalled something.

"Well, maybe not quite every eventuality. I mean that security guard turning up was rather inconvenient and then you spies appearing in Paris and messing up my hit list was unexpected, but otherwise, I can anticipate absolutely everything! Anyway, it's time to cut you two down to size a bit."

Alex and Clover's eyes widened in horror as the mad professor aimed his gun directly at them. They yelled into their gags and struggled against their bonds, but they were utterly powerless to save themselves.

Mortified, Sam grabbed the Laser Lipstick and carefully aimed it at the ropes binding her friends, hoping that she could get them free in time to get clear. As soon as she was sure that the laser was properly lined up, she pressed the firing button… and nothing happened. Desperately, Sam pressed the button again, but as before, the laser did not fire.

"Oh no! It must have been damaged in the drop!" she realised despairingly. She frantically pulled off the battery covering to try and work out the problem, but by then it was already far too late. All she could do was watch on helplessly as Terrier pulled the trigger and fired his weapon.

Clover and Alex screwed their eyes shut and gave out muffled screams as the beam engulfed them both. Within a flash, the two of them had apparently vanished into thin air, leaving their clothes and bonds lying in a jumbled heap, just like it was with all the other victims. Of course, Sam knew full well what had just happened and that her two best friends were thankfully very much alive. But the real question was what kind of creatures had that diabolical fiend turned them into?

The answer soon came in the form of a Border Collie puppy that dazedly poked her head out from under the skirt of Alex's business outfit, while a yellow-feathered budgie suddenly flew frantically out of the collar of Clover's red catsuit. The two disoriented animals then took a look at one another and their mouths dropped open in sheer disbelief.

"Alex? Tweet, tweet! Is that you beneath all that fur?" asked the budgie in amazement.

"Clover? You're all covered in feathers! Woof, woof!" exclaimed the Border Collie.

Clover ruffled her new feathers and glowered angrily at Terrier. "You meanie! You've got some nerve doing this to us!"

A mad glint appeared in the Professor's eyes. "Me, a meanie? It's you and your kind who are the meanies, refusing to acknowledge my absolute brilliance! I used to be highly respected in the scientific community, until I announced that I had discovered the means to mutate human DNA to match those of animals. Think of it! Instead of constantly tearing down this planet to suit our needs, man could evolve to better fit in with the environment!"

"Woof! So what went wrong?" asked Alex.

"I was kicked out, because those fools from ICSU said I could not do it," snarled the Professor, his voice full of resentment. "They said that using unwilling human test subjects for my experiments was downright immoral. They said my work would be deemed morally unethical, were it not for the fact that it was all so ludicrously impossible! They said that I was completely and utterly mad!"

He let out another cold, angry laugh. "Mad?! Me?! I'll teach them! With the use of my ingenious invention, the transmutator ray, I will transform the entire population of Los Angeles into an army of ferocious and bloodthirsty animals, which I will use to conquer the entire world! I'll ensure that no one will even think to dismiss my theories again and I'll turn all those who have ever dared to mock me into flies!"

Sam's stomach rumbled at the mention of flies. "Stop that!" she hissed furiously at her green belly as she thought back to that embarrassing moment in the lab.

"But first," continued the Professor, "I shall finish dealing with those who got me sacked and ruined my reputation in the first place! I've been keeping careful track of my remaining targets and have discovered they have all been gathered together in the headquarters of WOOHP. An ideal turn of events, since I can now take them all out in one go!"

"Oh, puh-lease!" retorted Clover as she tried to get the hang of flapping her new wings. "There's no way you'll be able to get past WOOHP security with that one small toy gun. They'll have you locked up before you've even got past the front door! Tweet!"

"True," said Terrier with a smug smile, "so it is rather fortunate that I also used to be a mechanical engineer in my spare time."

He pressed a hidden switch on one of his computers and as the spies watched on in amazement, one of the far walls slid open to reveal a homemade one-man tank, made from shiny silver steel, complete with large robust caterpillar tracks and a hefty, formidable-looking cannon on top.

"An enlarged version of my transmutator ray," explained Terrier manically as he pointed at the large mortar on the tank. "With this, I shall be able to zap the entire building and turn everyone inside into my animal slaves! And then, I shall proceed to transform the whole of Los Angeles into the first conscripts for my new army! Ha, ha, ha!"

As he finished his increasingly deranged ranting, he opened a hatch on the tank and proceeded to clamber inside to the control chamber.

"Farewell, dear pets. I'll try to be back in time to feed you and let you out for walkies. But then again, maybe I won't!"

With a final manic laugh, he disappeared inside, closed the heavy hatch and set the tank in motion. The armoured machine rolled noisily out of the girls' sight and up a hidden ramp that led to a large garage door that opened straight onto the main road outside.

"Tweet, tweet! We cannot let that total nutcase get away with this!" squawked Clover in frustration as they heard the tank make its way onto the streets outside.

"Yeah, but how are we going to get out of here? We can't handle the Hairpick Lockpick without hands!" said Alex, scratching her right ear with her paw in irritation.

"Psst! Guys, down here!" called out Sam's voice urgently. Surprised, Alex and Clover turned their heads to see their friend waving at them from behind the bars of the vent covering just a little further away from the cage they were trapped in.

"Woof! Sammy, you made it!" said Alex in delight.

"You know, a little help would have been appreciated a few minutes ago," grumbled Clover irritably.

"Sorry girls, but the Laser Lipstick got damaged on the way over, so I couldn't get you free in time," explained Sam apologetically. "I'm just trying to get it fixed now."

"Well, you better hurry it up Sam," said Clover, "or Jerry and everyone in WOOHP will be left all shaggy and reduced to picking out fleas!"

"Oh don't remind me," muttered Alex as she started scratching at a rather itchy part of her now-furry body, while Sam looked into the mechanical workings of the Lipstick.

"Ah got it!" Sam called out elatedly. "The battery just got knocked out of position. Hang on you two, I'll get it back into the slot."

"A loose battery?" echoed Clover incredulously. "Honestly, you'd think Jerry would make sure the gadgets were a bit more robust before they're issued out."

With a resolute click, Sam finally got the battery back into place and seconds later, she managed to slice off the metal bars of the vent covering, enabling her to leap out and get over to her friends.

"Okay girls, I'll have you out in just a sec." She began to carefully move the intense and burning beam of the Laser Lipstick over the mesh of the cage, creating an opening large enough for Alex and Clover to get out. She had just finished cutting through when a sudden and sinister hissing sound cut across the anonymous silence of the lab.

"Sam, look out! On your left!" yelled Alex urgently.

Sam whirled to see a large vicious snake entering the room through a cat flap in the door. It slithered with frightening speed towards her, baring its fearsome fangs at her. With alarm, Sam leapt onto the nearest table, just narrowly evading the snake's snapping jaws. Catching her breath, she looked down and saw to her dismay that the petrifying Burmese python was starting to slither unwaveringly up the table leg after her!

"Hey, back off, creep!" Clover shouted at the python.

"Yeah, you leave our BFF alone, you slimy jerk!" growled Alex as she pushed the sliced-up panel of the cage clear out of the way and charged doggedly out of the mesh prison. Baring her own sharp teeth, she ran right across to the snake and bit it dead-on the tail! The snake gave out a loud hiss of pain, before switching its attention onto Alex, fixing her with a fiery, evil stare.

"Oopsie! Maybe that wasn't such a great idea," said Alex uneasily, before she darted around the cluttered room with the snake chasing her at surprising speed.

"Hang on, Alex!" called out Clover as she swooped down and scratched at the snake's head with her taloned feet. Incensed, the snake redirected its attack again in order to bite her, but Clover had already flown well clear of its fangs, before taking a dive right through a gap under the snake's belly. The python angrily twisted and moved its head and neck through the gap, trying to catch and devour its prey. But the bird kept flying under, over and around the snake, which in turn kept twisting and turning about itself, as it kept stubbornly on with the chase.

Then, just as its deadly jaws were at last close to reaching its feathered quarry, the snake's head suddenly jerked to an abrupt halt. It could not move! So engrossed was it in chasing Clover, it did not realise until too late that it had quite literally twisted itself into a large ball of knots, rendering itself quite helpless!

"Thanks guys," breathed Sam. "That was way too close!"

"No prob, Sam!" woofed Alex as she wagged her tail elatedly.

"Say, this is actually rather fun!" said Clover ecstatically as she flew about the room with her new wings. "A girl could get used to this! Tweet!"

"Hey, can you say 'I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat'! Woof!" teased Alex.

"Sorry to rein in on your new flying parade," interrupted Sam firmly, "but we've got a mad scientist to nab! Ribbit, ribbit!"


	7. The Big Chase

It had taken Trent the best part of three hours to get all of Mandy's clothes washed, scrubbed and tumble-dried at the cleaners, but at long last he had been able to get it all finished. Satisfied that it was all completed, he had the whole pile neatly put into some carrier bags before he marched briskly out through the store door and back up the streets to the bus stop. He had just reached the stand when he saw something glittering in the distance. At first, he thought it was the bus that would get him back to Mali-U, but as the vehicle got closer, he could see that it was in fact a large silver tank that was rolling down the streets towards him. Before his astonished eyes, the tank pulled up next to him and a hatchway opened up to reveal an old man inside with spectacles and a rather lunatic hairstyle.

"Excuse me, young man," said the man in a jovial and polite tone of voice, "but could you direct perhaps me to the road I need to get to the 'World Organisation Of Human Protection'? It's the rather tall building with a great big 'w' on the top."

"Err, sure. It's down that thataway," Trent said at last as he pointed to the appropriate road.

"Thank you very much, sir," said the man with an appreciative smile before he closed the hatch and got the tank moving down the roadway, leaving Trent gawking as he tried to comprehend what he had just seen.

He was still feeling pretty dumbfounded when he became aware of the sound of a motorcycle coming up towards him. He turned and his jaw dropped even further at the sight of a motorbike coming from the direction that the tank had come. What was astonishing was that the bike seemed to be being driven by a black-and-white puppy and a green frog like the one he had problems with earlier, with a yellow-feathered bird flying closely behind. Both the dog and the frog had tied themselves to the bike with some belts to prevent themselves from being thrown off and were currently shouting commands at the bike, telling it to slow down. Finally, they had managed to get the bike to pull over right next to the still open-mouthed Trent.

"Oh, hi there. You haven't seen a crazy old man in a large tank pass this way have you?" asked the puppy in a voice that curiously sounded to Trent very much like Alex's.

Feeling stunned, Trent meekly pointed a trembling finger to the road that the tank had just taken.

"Woof! Thanks!" said the dog before she yelled "GO!" at the bike. With a roar the motorcycle zoomed down the streets, with the bird flying closely behind. For a few long seconds, Trent stared with his mouth still hanging wide open, before he finally passed out in shock and fell flat on his back on the streets.

* * *

"Hey guys, wait up! I'm still trying to get used to this flying lark," panted Clover as she frantically flapped her wings in order to keep up with the speeding motorbike. It was fortunate for the girls that Terrier had left the garage door open, thus enabling them to get out of the decrepit shop and it was even more fortunate that the WOOHP cycles worked by voice command, since they could not operate the vehicles manually without any human hands. Now they were desperately racing towards WOOHP at high speed, hoping against hope that they would intercept the mad pet-shop owner before he could carry out his crazed, diabolical plan.

"No can do, Clover!" yelled Sam over the noise of the motorbike engine. "If we don't catch up with that loony, Jerry and everyone at WOOHP will be turned into 'Lion King' extras just as we've been!"

"Hey, I can see him!" cried out Alex, motioning with her paw towards the armoured machine just ahead of them. "Boy, we're lucky these bikes are way fast!"

Sam shouted a few carefully worded commands to the bike and within seconds, she and Alex had managed to carefully manoeuvre their vehicle so that it was moving alongside the tank. Sam quickly rummaged through the bike's glove compartment and pulled out the Laser Lipstick so that Clover could grab it with her talons. As soon as the budgie had hold of the gadget, she flew over to the main hatch and activated the laser. There was a terrific display of sparks as the device began cutting through the hull of the metal machine and Clover started to fly around the hatch, which begun to warp and buckle.

Sam and Alex meanwhile had set the bike to autopilot and after undoing the belts tethering them to the bike, they leapt onto the still-moving tank. As they landed on the armoured machine, there was an abrupt jolt as the tank hit a bump in the road. With her body still covered in slimy mucus, Sam lost her balance and almost slid right off the edge of the moving vehicle and onto the fast moving asphalt surface below, but Alex managed to catch her with her furry paws just in time.

"Phew, that would have been messy!" breathed Alex as she put a slightly shaken Sam back onto the metal plating away from the edge.

Inside the tank, Terrier was busy at the controls that steered the tank, his attention fixed fanatically on the monitor display, which showed the road he was presently taking. Finally, his intended target came into view on the screen. WOOHP headquarters, all ready to be blasted by his powerful transmutator ray.

"Oh, this is just too good to be true," the crazed scientist giggled to himself as he aligned the formidable weapon for firing. "I'll be able to zap those narrow-minded fools and all those meddling secret agents into becoming the first subjects of my new animal kingdom before they even have a chance to react!"

Becoming increasingly giddy with excitement, Terrier poised his slightly quivering finger over the big red trigger button, all ready to open fire and commence the start of his new reign.

Suddenly, he became aware of the distinct smell of something burning. He sniffed the air disdainfully.

"Don't tell me the air conditioning is on the blink," he muttered to himself as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

There was a sudden and loud clanging noise behind him and he whirled around to see that the main entry hatch had been cut clean through and sent crashing to the floor. Through the hole, he could see a frog, a Border Collie puppy and a budgie peering over the edge, glaring furiously down at him.

"What? How can this be?" Terrier exclaimed as he drew his original transmutator gun from the holster around his waist in panic. But before he could level his weapon, Sam leapt through the hole, landing right on his face! In alarm, Terrier tried to smack the frog with butt of his gun, but Sam simply jumped out of the way and he instead whacked himself! With a cry of pain, he whirled around for any sign of his amphibious attacker, before spotting her standing on his right foot, waving at him. With an angry snarl, he tried on stamp on her with his other foot, but again she jumped clear and he inadvertently stamped on his own toes, making him yelp.

Before Terrier could gather his wits, a sudden stabbing pain from behind further intensified the agony he was enduring. While he had been so focused on Sam, Alex had jumped down and with a fierce growl, she had bitten the madman right on the backside! Terrier cried out and danced about the cramped control room, trying frantically to throw the puppy off him, but Alex held doggedly on with all her strength. Clover, meanwhile, had flown into the tank and had taken up a hovering position right in front of the large monitor screen.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to get the best of us, Prof!" she smirked. With a furious expression on his face, Terrier ignored his other two attackers, drew his weapon again and fired directly at Clover. But the budgie simply swopped out of the way and the beam instead ricocheted off the monitor screen, right back at Terrier!

"No!" screamed the scientist as he was bathed in the energy of his own gene-splicing ray and began to shrink. "This cannot be happening! My plan was foolproof! FOOLPROOF!"

"Yeah, and you were the fool who just got his butt kicked!" grinned Sam as the professor finally disappeared into his mound of clothes.

"Oh, don't mention butts," grimaced Alex, feeling slightly revolted by her own method of attack.

As the girls looked on, a tiny white mouse poked his whiskered nose out from under the folds of Terrier's shirt.

"Oh no, not this!" exclaimed the mouse as it looked itself over in dismay. "I don't even like cheese!"

* * *

A few minutes, WOOHP agents had burst out from the building and surrounded the tank, before having a still-fuming Terrier extracted and carted off in a mouse cage to the containment facility.

"Excellent work, girls," said Jerry as he addressed the three spy animals who had perched themselves on a nearby bench. "You'll be pleased to hear that we've been able to work out how to reverse-engineer Terrier's transmutator ray, so we'll be able to start turning you all back to human beings in no time."

"Thanks, Jerry," said Sam. "We'll sure be glad to get back to normal. Ribbit!"

"Yeah," agreed Clover. "Though I gotta admit, being able to fly like this without a Jetpack has been kinda cool."

"By the way, Jerr, what's gonna happen to all those poor animals in Terrier's pet shop?" asked Alex, unable to keep the concern from coming out in her voice.

"Don't worry, they'll be well looked after at the local animal sanctuary, until we can find some decent owners who can take proper care of them," assured Jerry.

"Boy, that's good to hear. Woof!" smiled Alex as she wagged her tail again.

"Hey, as soon as we're back to normal, how about we get around to watching that movie at last?" suggested Clover.

"Uh, I think I'll pass," laughed Sam. "After this mission, I think I've had all I can take of frogs to last me a real long time."

"Well in that case, perhaps you girls should watch something a bit more cultured," suggested Jerry, "like 'The 100 Greatest Works Of William McGonagall', or maybe you'll prefer 'Plan 9 From Outer Space', or…"

"On second thoughts," said Sam quickly, "'Princess and the Frog' sounds pretty good to me!"

And with that, the spies hurriedly left the bench and made their way over to the WOOHP lab for the antidote, before Jerry could come up with any more bad film suggestions!


	8. Epilogue

It was another gloriously sunny day at Mali-U and the three spies were in high spirits. A couple of days had passed since the Evil Pet Shop incident and the girls had now been fully restored to their normal human selves, much to their mutual relief. At present, they were making their way across campus to their next fashion class, when they spotted Trent rummaging about on the path. The girls shared a puzzled look as they saw he was carrying a rather large fishing net and a video camera, while he poked around some of the green shrubs with a stick.

"Hey Trent, what exactly are you doing with all that lot?" asked Clover incredulously. Trent jumped back a little in embarrassment as he realised he was being observed.

"Oh err, well you see it's like this, ladies," explained Trent as he continued digging through the bushes. "A few days ago, I saw some real-life talking animals driving a motorcycle on the street, but everyone, including Mandy, thinks I've turned totally doolally. So I'm hunting around to see if I can catch one of these creatures as proof that I've not gone crazy. This could even prove to be my big break, chat shows and everything!"

"Err Trent, it's not that we disbelieve you," said Sam a little awkwardly, "but I don't think you're likely to see any more talking animals for quite a while."

At that precise moment, one of the shrubs suddenly shook, and to everyone's surprise, a voice loudly squawked out "Talking Animals! Talking Animals!"

"Hey, what'd you know? I've actually found one!" exclaimed Trent excitedly. He dashed over to the shrub, pulled back some of the leaves so that he could have a better look… and was thrown off his feet as a large green parrot shot out of the shrub and flew off, continuing to squawk "Talking Animals! Talking Animals!"

"Yeah, I guess you found a right one all right," chuckled Alex as she, Sam and Clover burst into helpless giggles.

"Never mind, Trent," chortled Clover sympathetically. "Guess you'll just have to wait a tiny bit longer for your 'big break' to come along."

And with that, the girls got going, laughing merrily all the way to class.


End file.
